Lexis and semantics: the vocabulary of English, including social and…

The idea

Lexis is the vocabulary of English; semantics is meaning, including denotation, connotation, sense relations and how meaning shifts with context. This method asks you to examine word choices and meanings as evidence of social and historical variation. Social variation appears in dialect words, occupational jargon, slang and sociolect, for example 'bread' for money or 'sick' meaning excellent. Historical variation appears in archaic lexis, semantic change such as amelioration, pejoration, broadening and narrowing, and new formations. Method: identify the lexical item, give its denotation, explore connotations and sense relations such as synonymy, antonymy and hyponymy, then link the choice to user, audience, purpose, time or place. Assessment rewards precise linguistic description plus interpretation of variation, not dictionary definitions alone.

What earns the marks

• Identifies lexical items precisely and classifies them, for example dialect lexis, slang, jargon, euphemism, neologism, archaism and loanword.
• Explains denotation and connotation, showing how a word's associations contribute to meaning beyond its literal sense.
• Uses sense relations accurately, including synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, polysemy and homonymy, to describe how meanings relate.
• Analyses semantic change over time, for example amelioration, pejoration, broadening, narrowing and metaphor, with a plausible example.
• Links lexical and semantic choices to social factors such as region, occupation, age, gender, ethnicity and social class.
• Explains how context and register shape meaning, for example technical lexis in a medical consultation compared with everyday synonyms at home.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Treating lexis and semantics as a list of difficult words.

  Put it right: Analyse why a word was chosen and what it means in context, including connotation and effect.

• Confusing semantic change with simple spelling change.

  Put it right: Semantic change concerns meaning, such as 'awful' shifting from 'full of awe' to 'very bad'; spelling belongs to orthography.

• Assuming a word has one fixed meaning.

  Put it right: Discuss polysemy and context-dependent meaning, showing how the same item can vary socially or historically.

Exam tips

• Quote the exact lexical item and label the semantic process or relation, then explain its effect in the text.
• Use a consistent analytical sequence: word, denotation, connotation, sense relation, variation link. This keeps answers focused.
• For change questions, date the usage where possible and explain the direction of meaning shift rather than asserting that language has simply improved or declined.